It is an glimpse into a bygone world that would soon be transformed forever by the Second World War.
Now every day life in Scotland in the 1930s - from workers on the Forth Bridge to sheep bringing traffic to a standstill in Dunbartonshire, picnics at Loch Voil in Perthshire and packed sports day stadiums in Lanarkshire - is showcased in a new book of photographs of Britain in the 1930s.
Featuring over 600 unseen black and white historic photographs of every British county and city in the country - including a number from Scotland - Britain in the 1930s presents a window into a country on the cusp of enormous change.
The images provide a visual insight into a world when Scotland was being rapidly transformed by technology from an ancient country of cathedrals and clan gatherings, to a new era of suburbs and motorcars, factories and cinemas, camping and beach holidays.
Author Steven Brindle said the 1930s are “now beyond living memory”, adding that the pictures showed a time when “Auld Reekie still merited that name”.
He said: “Different aspects of Scottish society are seen here. Traditional Scotland is represented by the Highland Gathering at Braemar, the oval enclosure surrounded by serried ranks of spectators, and around them a small forest of charabancs and the large saloon cars of the era.
“The Inter-War years were the first era in history when ordinary working and middle class people could afford to go on holiday. The Highlands represented a tremendous draw, and we see people taking walking and camping holidays; boating and taking a family picnic at Loch Voil, and hiking at Loch Lubnaig.”
He added: “It is the world of our grandparents and great-grandparents, at once deeply familiar and lovable but also strange and out of reach.”
1. Competitors in a Highland Reel at Aboyne Highland Gathering, Aberdeenshire
Competitors in a Highland Reel at Aboyne Highland Gathering, Aberdeenshire | Britain in the 1930s Photo: Britain in the 1930s
2. The old schoolhouse at Gairnshiel, near Ballater in the Highlands
The old schoolhouse at Gairnshiel, near Ballater in the Highlands | Britain in the 1930s Photo: Britain in the 1930s
3. Gathering of the Royal Highland Society, Aberdeenshire
Gathering of the Royal Highland Society, Aberdeenshire | Britain in the 1930s by Steven Brindle and Maureen Hill
4. A picnic party, high above Loch Voil, Balquihidder, Perthshire, 1938
A picnic party, high above Loch Voil, Balquihidder, Perthshire, 1938 | Britain in the 1930s by Steven Brindle and Maureen Hill